The LG G Vista clearly trades on the success of the G3 in form, but it's closer in function to the LG Lucid 3. Given the $49.99 (with two-year contract) price, that is perfectly fine—this really is simply an entry-level smartphonethat happens to be huge. The 5.7-inch display will appease phablet fanatics, and LG's useful software features trickle down from the G3. Herculean battery life just sweetens the deal. Verizon doesn't carry many phablets right now, so if you're set on supersizing your smartphone, the G Vista is a good value. If you can stretch your budget to $100, do it—at that price you can get our Editors' Choice phablet on Verizon, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which is superior in every respect.

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Design, Features, and Call QualityWithout anything for scale, it would be difficult to distinguish the G Vista from the G3. The bezels are slightly larger and the back is a glossier, cheaper-feeling plastic, but from the shape down to the rear-mounted button placement and camera arrangement, the inspiration for the G Vista is readily apparent. There's no getting around the sheer size here (5.99 by 3.12 by 0.36 inches (HWD) and 5.93 ounces), but the rounded back fits comfortably in the hand, much like the smaller G3. LG also bakes in a few useful software tricks to mitigate the difficulties of a large device, which I'll cover shortly.

The 5.7-inch, 720p LCD looks reasonably sharp (258ppi), but at this size the lack of 1080p makes a noticeable difference. Text-heavy websites look pixelated and you can start to see aliasing in icons and other home screen elements. The viewing angle is wide, but the display looks slightly recessed behind the glass, not bonded to it like with higher-end phones. The screen gets pretty bright, but that gap seems to add some glare and reflectivity that makes using the phone in bright outdoor light somewhat difficult.

The G Vista connects to Verizon's CDMA (800/1900MHz) and LTE (Bands 4/13) networks, which means fast speeds on the new XLTE bands. Call quality was unexceptional in my tests. Voices coming through the earpiece were a tad harsh and treble heavy, while transmissions through the mic sounded thin and distant. Noise cancellation was average, drowning out nearby conversations, but struggling with wind buffeting. In my tests, the massive 3,200mAh battery was good for an outstanding 23 hours, 45 minutes of continuous talk time.

Dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and NFC radios round out the wireless connectivity options. The G Vista had no issue connecting to an Era by Jawbone Bluetooth headset.

Performance and AndroidPowering the G Vista is a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC with 1.5GB RAM. This same setup can be found in a whole host of budget-friendly devices from the Motorola Moto G to the HTC Desire 816, another big-screen phablet. Performance, as you might expect, is essentially identical between all of these handsets, with any differences stemming from software customizations. LG's Optimus UI has gone through some refinements, but it's still a heavier load than HTC's skin. As such, some animations can stutter and feel a bit delayed, especially compared with the near-stock Android running on the Moto G.

The G Vista runs Android 4.4 with the aforementioned Optimus UI skin. It has the same flat, modern look that debuted with the G3 and also benefits from some of the same useful software tweaks. QSlide and dual window multitasking really help take advantage of the added screen real estate. I had no issue watching YouTube videos while browsing the Web, and I love having the ability to reply to texts and emails without having to leave the app I'm in. KnockOn and KnockCode let you tap on the display to wake and unlock the G Vista, and if you have an LG tablet, QPair lets you sync your notifications between your smartphone and tablet.

For easier one-handed operation, you can set the keyboard or dialpad to appear shrunken down on the left or right edges and shrink the entire screen down so you can reach every corner with one thumb. LG also lets you switch around the Android navigation button order and program the rear volume keys to launch straight into any app from sleep.

Of the 8GB of total internal storage, 3.7GB is available to users out of the box. Our 64GB microSD card worked fine, but moving apps to the SD card isn't always an option in Android 4.4 and that low storage will fill up quickly with titles like Asphalt 8 passing the 1GB mark. The usual Amazon and Verizon preloads are here and, frustratingly, Verizon is still pushing its Messages+ app as the default for SMS and MMS. You can change it by digging into the settings menu, but I wish you didn't have to.

Camera and ConclusionsThe 8-megapixel, rear-facing camera features the same laser autofocus system that debuted with the G3. Focus was speedy in my tests, but not appreciably quicker than a Galaxy S5 or HTC One (M8). Image quality isn't nearly as good as what you get with the G3's 16-megapixel camera, but it should suffice for Web uploads. Outdoors and in bright light, images look sharp and true to life. Dynamic range isn't great, though, and the G Vista struggled with more challenging lighting in my tests. Indoors and in low light, details start to look smudged, but colors remain accurate and the image noise isn't a huge issue in reasonable lighting. Video tops out at 1080p resolution and footage looks full of detail with steady frame rates, even in low light.

Though it doesn't quite rehabilitate the tainted Vista name, the LG G Vista has a lot to offer for big-screen fans on a budget. The 720p display is on par with phones in this price range, like the Huawei Ascend Mate2 or HTC Desire 816. You're not getting a ton of power, especially compared with phablets like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but for most tasks you probably won't notice a difference. Spending that extra $50 for the Note 3 is definitely worth considering, as that phablet has a sharper 1080p AMOLED display and unbeatable built-in stylus. It's also worth noting that at the time of this writing, Verizon lists the G3 at $100 with a two-year contract—it's only slightly smaller with a 5.5-inch display, but blows the G Vista out of the water in every other way.

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Before joining the consumer electronics team at PCMag, Eugene worked at local news station NY1 doing everything from camera work to writing scripts. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010. Outside of work Eugene enjoys TV, loud music, and making generally healthy and responsible life choices.
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